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1997 Iowa vs 2024 PSU

YYZ86

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2013
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I believe in most sports like football and basketball that today’s teams would handle teams of the past. But wrestling is dependent on weight classes so the natural bigger, stronger, faster of today might not apply as much.

If the Iowa team that holds the record for most points wrestled this year’s PSU team, who wins?
 
118 Whittmer (Champ) and 1 of 197 Brooks, 184 Trueax don't have a match up. 190 Fullhart (Champ) does be go up or down?
 
118 Whittmer (Champ) and 1 of 197 Brooks, 184 Trueax don't have a match up. 190 Fullhart (Champ) does be go up or down?
I understand that. I guess my real question is are the current wrestlers in general better than back in the day.
 
2 entirely different eras and there is no way of comparing: Different weights, totally different sport. The modern sport bears very little resemblance to the sport of the 80s and 90s. Officiating is definitely different also. Athletic abilities are night and day.
 
125: Whitmer (118) / Mena (126) DEC Davis
133: Ironside (134) MAJ Nagao
141: Bartlett DEC Gilliss (142)
149: McIlravy (150) DEC Kasak
157: Haines DEC Williams (158)
165: Mesenbrink TECH Uker (167)
174: Starocci MAJ Ersland (177)
184: Fulhart (190) misses weight; FFT for Truax
197: Brooks DEC Fullhart (190), who missed weight at 184
285: Kervliet MAJ Hand

28-10 PSU (2024) over Iowa (1997)
 
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125: Whitmer (118) / Mena (126) DEC Davis
133: Ironside (134) MAJ Nagao
141: Bartlett DEC Gilliss (142)
149: McIlravy (150) DEC Kasak
157: Haines DEC Williams (158)
165: Mesenbrink TECH Uker (167)
174: Starocci MAJ Ersland (177)
184: Fulhart (190) misses weight; FFT for Truax
197: Brooks DEC Fullhart (190), who missed weight at 184
285: Kervliet MAJ Hand

28-10 PSU (2024) over Iowa (1997)
I love Haines but Williams was a beast. That’s a toss up at best. Williams won his second straight national title in 1997 and picked up his 3rd the next year
 
I believe in most sports like football and basketball that today’s teams would handle teams of the past. But wrestling is dependent on weight classes so the natural bigger, stronger, faster of today might not apply as much.

If the Iowa team that holds the record for most points wrestled this year’s PSU team, who wins?
Doesn't matter. We have two 4-time champs on this team, while Iowa has never had one. That alone makes this team better in my view.
 
125: Whitmer (118) / Mena (126) DEC Davis
133: Ironside (134) MAJ Nagao
141: Bartlett DEC Gilliss (142)
149: McIlravy (150) DEC Kasak
157: Haines DEC Williams (158)
165: Mesenbrink TECH Uker (167)
174: Starocci MAJ Ersland (177)
184: Fulhart Dec Truax
197: Brooks DEC ANYONE (190)
285: Kervliet MAJ Hand

25-13 PSU (2024) over Iowa (1997)
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Generally--I think yes. Style and technique is somewhat cyclical--grit and athleticism is steady. But youth/HS development was no where near what the elite kids have access to today. Just my gut feeling.
I on occasion watch old clips of great wrestlers from yesteryear. The current form of wrestling is totally different than the pre 1980s form. It is far more athletic now, especially from the feet. I think the wrestlers from old , were the toughest and strongest kids in school. Now the great kid that wrestles is maybe quickest and most athletic in school. When you see Gable Stevenson do a back flip easily, that just confirms how athletic these kids are.
 
It's not the kids that are better. It's the coaching. It's the preparation. These kids today have been wrestling year-round since they were 6 years old. They've had professional-level coaching for most of their careers.
There were kids that I wrestled with and knew in HS and college that given a month or two of today's training could probably fit in pretty well. There was a great deal of technical proficiency back then. But the moves were different, mostly.

Size-wise, kids were much larger for their weight classes in the past. They sucked a lot of weight and there were few or no restrictions on weight loss. My little brother dropped from about 150 to 112 in HS. In the regional finals he wrestled a kid that made him look like a baby. A year later that kid was still wrestling 115. I asked him what he dropped from. He said: 118. He was just naturally a monster. Most kids back then came by their monsterness by sucking weight.
 
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